Sleepy Hollow: The Akeda (Recap/Review)

“God wrote the Ineffable Name upon Methuselah’s Sword. For a man to wield it would consume his soul in fire.”

The Akeda episode of Sleepy Hollow was tense from start to finish and in its final moments, a surprising twist happened. This twist turned everything upside down and it is safe to say that this was one of the best episodes of Sleepy Hollow in season two.

After they managed to find the Methuselah Sword in the previous episode, Abbie and Ichabod now decide to go to the Fredericks Manor to kill Moloch. When they arrive, the place is deserted. However, they find Henry’s model of Sleepy Hollow and some places are marked with a black flag. It appears that these are the locations where Henry has struck and when Ichabod connect the dots, he and Abbie realize that these locations form a pentagram over Sleepy Hollow and Abbie saw the same pentagram in Moloch liar in purgatory. Just when Crane thinks that they are too late, he hears Katrina screaming.

Ichabod and Abbie run outside and they see that the Headless Horseman wants to perform the bonding ritual. He and Crane start fighting and with the Methuselah Sword, Ichabod takes the Horseman down. He wants to know where Moloch is and if the Horseman will not tell him, Ichabod will kill him. Katrina extends the amulet’s enchantment and Abbie and Ichabod can now see Abraham in human form as well. He tells Crane that the Sword requires a sacrifice – the life of anybody who wields it. Apparently, the moment a man uses the Sword to kill, his soul, his hence and his life will be taken with it. Of course, nobody believes the Headless Horseman, but Katrina tells them to do some digging just in case and Jenny discovers that the Horseman was telling the truth. The gang imprisons the Horseman and while Katrina is guarding him, Crane overhears when she tells Abraham that she cares about him. However, they decide that their main focus is to stop Moloch and that they will deal with their marriage later.

Since they now know what the cost of using the Sword is, Abbie thinks of something else. If a soul has already been claimed, then the Sword would be unable to consume it again. So this means that Irving could use the sword and he would not die, because Henry already has his soul. When Jenny listens to his voice mail again, she hears a code and when they crack it, they realize that it is actually a date: September 23, 1780. Irving apparently left this code for Ichabod, who tells Jenny and Abbie that on that day, three patriots captured the British spy John Andre, who was arrested and immediately taken to a garrison in Sleepy Hollow. So when Irving said that he will stay underground, he was referring to the old military post in downtown. Jenny and Ichabod decide to go there and when they arrive, they find Irving. They tell him about the Sword and Irving decides that he will use it to defeat Moloch. However, he asks Jenny and Ichabod to look after Cynthia and his daughter if anything happens to him.

So, Irving starts interrogating the Headless Horseman, who is still unwilling to tell them where Moloch is. Well, when he learns that Irving can kill him with no consequences, because Henry already has his soul, Abraham finally starts talking. He tells the gang that Moloch is at the four white trees, which, along with the forest, have taken on a darker hue. War and Moloch have begun to merge purgatory and this world, and with each white tree that is burned black, more evil may enter. The blackening of first white tree brought the lightning. Blood will be brought with the blackening of the second white tree. The fall of the third white tree will bring Moloch’s army of demons. And the fall of the fourth white tree will complete the formation of Hell on Earth. After they get this information, Irving wants to kill the Headless Horseman, but Katrina tells Ichabod that he still may be useful. So, they let Abraham live and Abbie asks Hawley to guard him.

Ichabod, Abbie, Jenny, Irving and Katrina head to the forest, but they are immediately attacked by Moloch’s army. When they defeat them, the Horseman of War attacks. Irving fights with him and he eventually kills him, but he is severely injured and Katrina tries to stop the bleeding. However, because the purgatory is merging with our world, she is loosing her powers and she cannot save Irving. Abbie is devastated when she learns that the Captain died, so she takes the Sword and she tells Crane that she will kill Moloch. Well, Ichabod tells her that he will do it, because he was brought back into this strange time solely for this moment. After they cool their heads, they agree that Abbie will attack first and if she fails, Crane will pick up the Sword and he will continue the fight. If he fails, Katrina will be the next and if Katrina fails, Jenny will be the last one standing. Well, it turns out that they do not have to go after Henry, because Moloch sends him after the sword. At first, Henry hesitates, because his armor is destroyed and he is vulnerable now, but Moloch tells him that there was a Horseman of War before and there will be another if Henry dies.

Henry comes to the church where the gang is hiding and Abbie is already waiting for him. Well, Henry defeats her and Jenny too, but he soon realizes that the Sword that Abbie had, was fake and Crane has the real one. Despite the fact that he told Abbie that he is willing to kill his son if necessary, Katrina managed to convince Ichabod that there is always another way. So, instead of killing Henry right there, Ichabod tells him that in Genesis, God commanded Abraham to sacrifice his son, Isaac and Abraham was willing to do that, however, in the very last moment, God provided him with a ram to sacrifice in Isaac’s stead. He tells his son that he will give his life wielding this Sword against him if he must, but if Henry lets Ichabod pass, he will dispatch Moloch to hell. This way, Henry will be free to live a life of his making, not a pawn in Moloch’s game, but as a loved one in a world of free will. Henry looks shocked when he realizes that his father never gave up on him and that would let him live. Ichabod is willing to sacrifice himself in order to defeat Moloch, but this is obviously still not enough for Henry, who attacks Ichabod, takes the Sword and tells the gang that Moloch is waiting for them.

When Henry brings his parents, Abbie and Jenny to Moloch, he orders him to kill Katrina. However, Henry tells Moloch that Katrina belongs to Abraham, who is awaiting the bargain that Moloch made with him. Well, Moloch tells Henry that Abraham failed and that he is nothing. Not only that, he says that Henry is also nothing. So, Henry turns around to do what Moloch wants, but Ichabod says that he should take him instead. Henry looks at his father and he tells him that he earlier told him the story about Abraham’s sacrifice – the Akeda and he does not understand who could worship a deity, who commands a man to sacrifice his own son. Those days have come to and end, according to Henry, who says that the true lesson of the story does not come from Abraham, but from Isaac. The chasm between father and son was never bridged and they never spoke again. Henry believes that any man, who is willing to sacrifice his own child, should die. Just when it looks like Henry will kill Ichabod, he turns around and while he screams that any god, who is willing to sacrifice his child, should also die, he stabs Moloch.

Well, Henry killing Moloch was a twist that nobody expected. Not at all. The creators of Sleepy Hollow once again did a remarkable job and just when the viewers thought that have it all figured out, another shocker came. It will surely be interesting to see what will happen now when Moloch is defeated and when Henry finally chose his parents. However, the viewers will have to wait for another episode of Sleepy Hollow, since the Akeda was a mid-season finale episode.